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TOPIC

Southeast Asia forced-labour scams

Southeast Asia forced-labour scams
Overseas job scams are rising sharply with many being lured to Southeast Asia and forced into illegal work. Cases involving Hongkongers were first revealed in 2022.
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Diplomacy

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Hong Kong politics

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Crime in Hong Kong

Hong Kong police investigate Cambodian scam farm link to missing girl

Crime

Chinese model lured to Myanmar with scam job rescued after sister raises alarm

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Cambodia

Video | Scam compounds ‘deliberately ignored’ by Cambodia

The human rights group identified 53 scam farms in the country that were staffed by trafficking victims, including children from China

Amnesty says Cambodia’s multibillion-dollar scam industry thrives with government blessing
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Cambodia

‘A living nightmare’: Cambodia blasted for backing US$12.5 billion scam hubs

The rights group identified 53 scam farms in the country that were staffed by trafficking victims, including children from China.

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Southeast Asia

Video | Why Southeast Asia is a hotbed for Chinese gangs

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Crime

Nearly 3,000 Chinese suspects brought back from Myanmar scam hubs, ministry says

More than 2,250 Chinese held in Myanmar’s Myawaddy region escorted back by police in latest such transfer, China’s Ministry of Public Security says.

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People from China, Vietnam and Ethiopia, believed to have been trafficked and forced to work in scam centres, are held in detention after being released from the scam hubs in Myawaddy, in southeastern Myanmar on February 26. Photo: AP
Crime in Hong Kong

Last of 6 Hongkongers recently freed from scam farm in Myanmar returns home

Security Bureau vows to save the three remaining residents on its list in bid to crack down on forced-labour scams in Southeast Asia.

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Crime in Hong Kong

6 scam farm captives to return to Hong Kong after rescue

Security chief Chris Tang says three men and three women, aged 29 to 44, had been illegally detained for five to seven months.

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Myanmar

Video | Life inside Myanmar’s notorious scam centres

Xu Bochun said he was duped by a fake job offer in 2023 which led to him spending the ‘darkest’ three months of his life in a scam centre.

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Xu Bochun said he was duped by a fake job offer in 2023 which led to him spending the ‘darkest’ three months of his life trapped in a Myanmar scam centre.
Myanmar

Video | Life inside Myanmar’s notorious scam centres

Xu Bochun said he was duped by a fake job offer in 2023 which led to him spending the ‘darkest’ three months of his life trapped in a Myanmar scam centre

‘People are sold every day’: first-hand account of life inside a Myanmar scam centre
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Myanmar

‘I can finally escape this hell’: Myanmar scam workers desperate to go home

About 7,000 people endure heat and mosquito bites at a squalid camp in Myawaddy as repatriation process slows.

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Myanmar

Video | Thousands of trafficked workers freed from Myanmar scam hubs

A crackdown on Myanmar’s scam hubs has freed 10,000 workers, but concerns remain over the sustainability of efforts to fight the region’s powerful crime syndicates

The Philippines

5 Chinese bosses among 450 arrested in Philippine scam farm raid

The offshore gaming operator targeted victims in China and India with sports betting and investment schemes.

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Philippine officials raid an office of a suspected online scam farm in Manila on January 31. Photo: AFP
Myanmar

Video | Trafficked scam workers heading home from Myanmar

A spokesman for a Myanmar militia said the group is preparing to deport 10,000 people from various countries

Freed Chinese scam centre workers due to return home from Myanmar
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Crime in Hong Kong

Myanmar’s ‘complex situation’ biggest hurdle to helping trapped Hongkongers

Undersecretary for Security Michael Cheuk also says ‘areas that the Myanmese government can control are relatively small’, amid country’s civil war.

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Thailand

Video | Thailand shuts power to Myanmar’s scam hub

 Thai prime minister is due to meet President Xi Jinping to discuss the scam crisis  

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Thailand

Thailand shuts power to Myanmar’s scam hub, PM Paetongtarn vows firm action

Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra is slated to meet President Xi Jinping to discuss issues including the scam crisis.

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Thai Deputy PM Anutin Charnvirakul (centre) speaks on the shutdown of power supplies to alleged scam operations across the Thai-Myanmar border. Photo: EPA-EFE
Crime in Hong Kong

Editorial | ‘Scam farm’ rescues rest on following the right path to freedom

Return of remaining Hong Kong residents held by fraudsters in countries bordering Thailand hinges on balancing operational needs and transparency.

Crime in Hong Kong

Scam farm victim returns to Hong Kong, as officials vow to help 9 others

Woman was found on the Myanmese side of border near Thailand’s Tak province on Sunday.

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Crime in Hong Kong

Hongkonger rescued from Myanmar scam farm, as authorities vow swift return home

Security Bureau confirms rescue of woman reportedly found on Myanmar side of border near Thailand’s Tak province.

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Thailand’s army and police conducted the rescue operation. Photo: Handout
Thailand

Video | Is it still safe to travel to Thailand?

Chinese tourists have become wary of travelling to Thailand after a spate of kidnapping incidents

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Crime

Why the Thailand-Myanmar border is a hub for gangs preying on Chinese nationals

The recent rescue of kidnapped actor Wang Xing has highlighted the transnational criminal networks that thrive in the region.

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Crime in Hong Kong

Hongkonger stuck in Thailand to fly home on Monday after scam farm ordeal

Security chief Chris Tang ‘thankful’ to secure return of 29-year-old in time for Lunar New Year.

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Asia travel

Video | Thai PM uses AI to ‘speak’ Mandarin

A Chinese actor’s disappearance near the Thai-Myanmar border in early January 2025 raised safety concerns about visiting Thailand

Thai Prime Minister seeks to reassure Chinese tourists with AI-generated Mandarin video
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Crime in Hong Kong

Electric shocks, physical assault: inside Southeast Asia’s forced labour camps

Recent high-profile rescue of mainland actor Wang Xing has put the plight of thousands trapped in compounds in focus.

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Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen
Crime in Hong Kong

Thailand assures Hongkongers over safety amid forced labour scams

Thai consulate in Hong Kong says country is working with neighbouring countries to clamp down on scam farms.

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Hong Kong police

Hong Kong sends team to Bangkok to help victim of Southeast Asian scam farm

Man, 29, released from scam compound in Myanmar but could be detained in Thailand for weeks.

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